In this petition to Congress, Kate Cornell requests a relief from her political disabilities. This petition was part of a petition drive organized by the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) calling for a constitutional amendment that would give women the right to vote. The petition closely follows a template provided by NWSA (an example of this type is the Petition of Dr. Clemence Lozier). The organization encouraged women to personalize their messages to Congress by including their personal reasons for desiring the the right to vote. In her petition, Kate Cornell argues that women have been oppressed by man-made laws and that women should have a voice in making laws. She also expresses a desire to have a say in what is done with the taxes she pays.
This petition was referred to to the Committee on the Judiciary in the House of Representatives on February 7, 1878. On January 10, 1878 Senator Aaron Sargent first introduced the joint resolution for an amendment to the Constitution that would ultimately extend the right to vote to women as the 19th Amendment, 42 years later. Petitions like this one from Kate Cornell show how women exercised their rights to bring about change in the decades-long fight for the right to vote.
